Apparatus for and process of cutting tires



Dec. 24

APPARATUS FOR AND PROCESS OF CUTTING TIRES Filed April 23, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 4- 1,517,801

H. REICHEL APPARATUS FOR AND PROCESS OF CUTTING TIRES Filed April 25, 1923 ZSheets-She'et 2 //@0 Zieickel f5 P W UNITED STATES nooo menu, or .cnrc'aoo, rumors Chicago, in the county of Cook and Pa ches Dec. 2, 1924'.

JPATENT 1,517,801 OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOBaAN D PBOCE SS O1 CUT-TING TIRES.

Application med Apri128,1933.. Serial m5. 633,881. I

i the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a process of and apparatus for cutting tires and has for particular purpose to provide means for cutting solid rubber tires from the automobile rim ings wherein:

or wheel. Other objects will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and 'claims. I

- I illustrate in inventionmore or less diagrammatically m the accompanying draw- Figure 1 is a plan view of my invention; .Figure2 is a side elevation;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the rim securas a roller which is mounted on the support G and is so proportioned and post tioned as to engage the rim of the autoing means; and I Figure 31 isa detail. I I Like parts are illustrated by like symbols throughout the specification and drawings.

A is any suitable base or frame structure I u n which is mounted the drive shaft B 1 ion 0' bythe w ich rotates inthe bearings B B. B is a drive pulley adapted to be rotated by any suitable belt or drive mechanism. actuated from a power source not herein illustrated.

Intermediate between. the. ulley B and the shaft B is the clutch mec anism C, the details of which form no part of the present invention, which is actuated, 1 for example, b the lever C pivoted atthe end of the elzament C outwardly projecting from the frame A. C is a inion' upon the shaft B and G is a cran jdisc, the purpose of which will laterap ear. I I

D is a worm she I driven from the pin r B, and rotatably mounted in an suita le manner in the base A. I It carries t e worm D in mesh with the worm wheel D which in turn is secured upon the 1 chuck shaft D, which in turn is supported I upon and slides along the tracks D. The

shaft D carries at its opposite end any suitable chuck or arbor adapted to, hold or receive an automobile rim or wheel.

The indicated mechanism. consists of a I centralhub or support E having four, or

any other suitable number of radiating slide arms E along3 whichslide the rim engaging elements The elements E" are radially movable through the four radially mounted screws E each of which terminates, in a bevelgear E, meshing with the single central bevel pinion E, which is rotated by the hand wheel E. and its shaft E or any, other suitable mechanism. Each slideE expands at its outerlend into a rim receiving portion E having an inner flange abutment E and an outer clamp 13?.

Mounted at the left end of the frame or' sup rt as shown in Figure 1 is the longitudmal knife support G which carries the three upwardl' projecting brackets G in which is slidab y mounted the knife gear G which carries at one end the knife G, its edges scallo ed like a bread knife. On the crank disc is mounted the eccentric pin .G*,wh ich is in rotatable engagement with the crank arm G, the opposite end of which is in rotatable engagement with the pin G on the knife bar. I

H is a guide element herein illustrated mobile tire andiwheel, when the said rim is advanced to the proper cutting position. This guide element permits a cutting adjustment wherein the. knife just clears the metallic rim and severs from the wheel substantiall all the rubber which projects about said rim.

. Mounted on the slide D is a block J screw threaded to receive the screw J the opposite end of which is rotatably mounted in the block J 2 onthe support .G, being held against axial movement in relation thereto.

.The screw J maybe rotated by the hand wheel J 8 todraw the slide D with the shaft D and the.tire sup by toward'the kni e G K is a knife support adapted to be slidably mounted on t e support G. K is a knife conforming substantially to the shape of the hollow in the rim, and adapted to be axially moved within the support K.

I It wil realized that many changes might be made in the size, number, shape and disposition of parts without departing from the s irit of my invention, and that I do not wish to limit myself to the specific mechanical means herein shown. I Y

The use" and operation ofmy invention are as follows:"

The rimor wheel upon which the solid tire which it isdesired to remove, is mounted, 1s first positioned on the adjustable chuck rt and rotate it there-- or arbor and clamped firmly in place. The sliding base upon which th'e arbor is mounted is then drawn toward the fixed knife until the knife engages the rubber. It is then progressively fed forward until the knife has cut its way to the proper depth, which is as near the edge of the rim as it can come without actually engaging it. The inclined pathof the knife as the cutting commences and as the tire is fed forward to-' wards its final cutting location is diagrammatically illustrated as K in Figure 3, although it will be understood that the path of theknife is not as regular as therein indicated.

I provide a guard, preferably in the form of-a rim engaging roller, mounted beneath the knife, on the supporting frame which serves to limit the travel of the wheel or rim toward the knife, thus positively preventing engagement of the knife with the rim.

The knife itself may be of any suitable form, but I have illustrated a corrugated knife which in practice has proved to be particularly efiicient for severing rubber: This knife is reciprocate'd through the tire and saws its way through the rubber as the tire is rotated. Preferably the tire is rotated on said roller slowly, the severing of the tire of usual size taking perhaps one minute. This feed maybe accelerated, depending upon thesize of the tire, the hardness of the rubber and the sharpness and hardness and heat resistance of the. knife.

A peculiarly advantageous, feature of my invention is the position of the knife with its edge at about the height of the axis of rotation of the rim support. The result is that as the tire is stripped off it falls forward away from. the rim or may be drawn for- 'ward away from the rim, thus permitting the considerable weight of the rubber to tension the tire as 'it contacts the knife, and to make the cutting operation easier and to keep the frictional contact between the rubber and the sides of the knife down to a minimum. This makes the sawing or cutting operation faster, easier, saves the knife edge, prevents over-heating and permits the rubber to be sawed or out at a rate which would otherwise be impossible.

Iillustrate a single driving force with which a frictionclutch'may be used when the pulley is'constantly driven, although I do not wish to restrictmyself to this particular driving connection. The main drive scooped, planed or turned out by the use of any suitable tool mounted beneath the knife on the supporting frame, which may be adjusted to plow out the rubber, as the tire is rotated.

I have illustrated in Figure 4 a knife which may be slid along the support or frame and which may be pushed forward to contact such rubber or cement as fills the rimbetween its two-edge flanges.

I claim:

1. In a machine for severing a rubber tire from its rim, a rim and tire sup orting element and means for securing the rim and tire thereupon, a knife and means for reciprocating it, means for guiding it alon a path interesecting the plane of the tire, int beyond the periphery of the tire rim, means for rotating the tire and the rim during the reciprocation of the knife, a movable carriage for said rim and tire supporting element, and means for freely moving it toward and away from the ath of the knife, and means for limiting t e inward movement of the tire supporting element toward the path of the knife to the point where the tire rim closely approaches but does not contact the knife, and for holding it at that point during the severing of the tire from the rim.

2. In a machine for severing a rubber tire from its rim, a rim and tire supporting element and means for securing the rim and tire thereupon, a knife and means for guiding it along a path intersecting the lane of the tire, but beyond the periphery o the tire rim, a drive shaft, a driving connection between the drive shaft and the knife adapted to reciprocate the knife, a driving shaft for. the tire supporting element, a driving connection between said shaft and the drive shaft, the two shafts lying in substantially the same horizontal plane.

3. In a tire cutting machine a sup orting frame, a horizontally disposed knife er and guides therefor, a driving element and a driving connection between said drive element and said bar ada ted horizontally to reciprocate said bar, a nife mounted upon said bar, a tire sup orting element and means for rotating said e ement about an axis parallel with the axis of reciprocation of said knife bar and lying in substantially the same horizontal plane, and means for varying the distance between said supporting element and said knife bar.

4. In a tire cutting machine a sup orting frame, a horizontally disposed knife ar and guides therefor, a driving element and a driving connection between saiddrive element and said bar ada ted horizontally to reciprocate said bar, a nife mounted upon said bar, a tire supporting element and means for rotating said element about an axis parallel with the axis of reciprocation of said knife bar and means for varying the and said knife bar, and means adapted to limit the relative movement of the knife bar and the supporting element toward each other during the severing of the tire.

5. In a tire cutting machine, a tire sup-' porting element and means for rotating it about a substantially horizontal axis, a knife andmeans for reciprocating it along a substantially horizontal axis and means for moving the tire supporting element toward and from the knife, said knife bein posi tioned at substantially the height of t e axis of rotation of the tire supporting element.

6. In a tire cutting machine, a tire supporting element and means for rotating it, a knife and means for reciprocating it, a carriage for said tire supporting means, and means for moving it toward and away from the axis. of reciprocation of said knife, and means for adjusting the diameter of said tire supporting element.

7. In a tire cutting machine, a tire supporting element and means for rotating it, a knife and means for reciprocating it, a carriage for said tire supporting means, and means for moving it toward and awa from the axis of reciprocation of said kni c, said tire supporting element comprising a central hub, a plurality of arms radiating therefrom, rim engaging elements movable along said arms and means'for moving them axially in unison.

8. In a tire cutting machine, a tire supporting element and means for rotating it, a knife and means for reciprocating it, a carriage for said tire supporting means, and means for moving it toward and awa from the axis of reciprocation of said kni e,said tire sup orting element comprising a central hub, a p urality of arms radiating therefrom, rim engaging elements movable along said arms and means for moving them axially in unison comprising a plurality of screws in mesh with said movable elements and means for rotating them in unison.

9. The process of removing a solid tire from a rim or wheel which consists in slowly rotating said wheel, advancing it laterally against a downwardly turned substantially horizontal knife, until said knife has penetrated the tire to a point closely adjacent the rim upon which it is mounted, drawing said knife backwards and forwards throu h said tire during its rotation, and employing the weight of the severed portion of the tire to put the unsevered portion of the tire under tension as it is carried upwardly against the edge of the knife. 1

10. The process of removing a solid tire from a rim or wheel which consists in slowly rotating said rib or wheel and in applying a cutting element to the tire and rotating the tire upwardly against the cutting element, and employing the weight of the severed portion of the tire to put the unsevered portionof the tire under tension as it is carried upwardly against the cutting element.

11. In a machine for severing a rubber tire from its rim, a rim and tire supportin element and means for securing a rim an tire thereupon, a knife positioned adjacent but beyond the periphery of the rim, means for varying the distance between said knife and said rim, and limitingv means adapted to limit the movement of the rim and knife toward each other, to a oint at which the knife is closely adjacent to ut out of contact with the rim.

12. In a machine for severing a rubber tire from its rim, a rim and tire supporting element and means for securing the rim and tire thereupon, a knife positioned adjacent but beyond the peripheryof the rim, means for varying the distance between said knife and said rim, and limiting means adapted to limit the movement of the rim and knife toward each other comprising a roller mounted adjacent said knife and adapted to contact said rim.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 19th day of April, 1923.

HUGO REICHEL. 

